Getting to know your fibres - Part 2 - Plant Fibres

So, last week we explored several different animal fibres that are often used for yarns, and their different properties. This week, we're moving on to look at plant fibres. 

When we say plant fibres, these are made from a variety of different parts of the plant. I'll talk you through how they are processed and created as we go through each one. 

Plant fibres, unlike animal fibres, are made from cellulose rather than protein. They have a different chemical makeup and as such are generally less elastic. They can be more absorbent too, hence having a cotton towel and not a woollen towel.

Lets start with the one that we likely all know the best: Cotton. 

Cotton

Now if you've been knitting or crocheting for any length of time, you are likely to have come across or used cotton yarns. We're all likely familiar with cotton as 'cotton wool' for use in cleansing or baby care, as an absorbent material used for towels, and a breathable fabric for t-shirts, shirts and other garments. 

Cotton is responsible for around 80-90% of plant fibre production worldwide. It has been cultivated for around 5000 years, but there are archaeological records of cotton cloth from digs in Peru and Mexico that are from around 6000 BC! 

Cotton is prized for it's softeness as well as being hardwearing. The fibres used come from the seed ball, the fruit, of the cotton plant. The seeds are encased in a ball of fluffy cellulose fibre, which is picked, carefully removed from the seeds, and cleaned. 

In the modern world, we tend to prepare cotton for yarn in a few different ways. 

Mercerised Cotton

Mercerisation is a process under which fibres are held under tension and passed through an alkaline solution, usually sodium hydroxide. This makes the cellulose in the fibres change it's construction slightly and results in the fibre being shinier, stronger, and also take colour more vibrantly.  

Mercerised cotton is more expensive due to the processes involved in creating it, but is seen as a premium product because of the resulting lustre and smoother feel, combined with the colour saturation and improved general absorbency of the fibre. 

Pima Cotton

Pima Cotton or Sea Island Cotton is what is called an 'Extra Long Staple' cotton. This means that the fibres that the plant produces are longer than other varieties of cotton. The Pima Cotton plant (G. barbadense) is partial to a warm, moist climate. This lead to it being cultivated on islands such as Barbados in recent centuries, however it has been around in South America for much longer than that. 

Pima cotton is prized for its softness, texture, and lack of pilling due to the longer length of the fibres used. 

Egyptian Cotton

Egypt is very proud of their cotton, and take steps to protect the trademark, and ensure quality and consistency throughout the whole supply chain. Not only does the plant have to originate in Egypt to be named 'egyptian cotton' but the process needs to be followed. Egyptian Cotton is ALWAYS hand picked. This means that care is taken when removing the cotton from the plant to ensure that the fibres are left as unbroken as possible and in the best condition. This means that as you move up the production chain, the extra long fibres are looked after, need much less splicing (joining) and are therefore finer and softer than machine-picked cottons. 

What does that mean for my project?

Cotton, as with pretty much all cellulose fibres, is not stretchy. This means that it is really good for projects where you either want something heavy and drapey, or something solid. It works really well for toys and amigurumi because of this, you won't find it looking stretched with stuffing coming out in between the stitches, but you don't want to use it for a pair of socks! They wouldn't stay up as the cotton would be too solid to contract in around your foot, even if you use copious ribbing. 

Choose cotton if you're wanting to make something which will hang beautifully. It's a heavier fibre than wool, and also feels nice and cool. It has really good stitch definition, but this means you will want to be really exact on your stitching and ensure that there aren't any mistakes or joins, as they will show up very clearly. 

Also, depending on the cotton you choose, because of the lack of stretch, and the type of projects tending to lead towards you needing to use a tight gauge, it can be quite hard work on the hands as well. 

As with everything, it's always best to do a gauge swatch to make sure that you're on the right track, as the lack of elasticity can throw off your standard tension a little. It's also worth noting that due to the weight of the fabric once it's finished, it can 'drop' a bit when made into a large project. This is again because the lack of elasticity doesn't pull them back into shape. 

Linen (Flax)

The distinction between Flax and Linen is a simple one. Flax is the plant, Linen is the fibre (think Cow is the animal, Beef is the meat). 

History

Flax is the oldest cultivated fibre plant. And when we think about old, remember that Cotton is a relatively recent addition at 6,000BC. By contrast, fragments of dyed flax fabric have been uncovered during digs of Dzudzuana Cave in the Republic of Georgia that date back around 36,000 years. 

That's before the last ice age peaked, before pottery, even before we developed a gene for blonde hair! 

The Process

Linen is created from the stems of the flax plant. The process involves growing the plants tightly together to force them to grow tall and long to compete for light, this creates as long a stalk as possible for the longest fibres. 

When you then harvest the flax, you need to leave it to ret (think rot). To do this, the stalks are either soaked (wet retting), or left outside in a field (dew retting) to be rained on so that natural biological processes can help to change the stalks and remove the pectins that hold the fibres we want (Bast Fibres) to the woody stem that we don't. 

Once the retting is complete, you then need to break and scutch the fibres. This is where the dried stalks are beaten and scraped to separate the bast fibres from the stems now that the bonds holding them together have been broken. 

Once you have been left with only the Bast Fibres remaining, you now need to get your heckles out. Heckles are long sharp spikes arranged like teeth sticking up to form a comb. You pass the Bast Fibres through these tines to remove any short fibres and impurities. 

Once you have got as pure and smooth a set of Bast Fibres as you can, you can then spin it and weave with it. 

Uses for Linen

There is a reason that most people think of linen as a woven cloth, The reason is that although it does soften with use, it is quite hard on the hands to knit or crochet with (I tried!), but if you are a weaver, you'll have a fabulous time with it creating some stunning fabric!

Linen is a wonderfully cooling product, great for hot weather climates. Because of the long fibres, it can be spun very thinly enabling you to create a very fine cloth. It feels cool to the touch, wicking away heat and moisture from the body. 

 

Hemp

Hemp has been cultivated in a similar way to flax, and along with bamboo it is one of the fastest growing plants on earth. 

History

Hemp has been around longer than cotton but nowhere near as long as flax as a cultivated fibre plant. Archaeological records show hemp fibre in production in China around 10,000 years ago to use as rope (there have been imprints found on pottery where the fibres have been studied and identified as hemp). 

Its use spread around the world and it was frequently used to make rope, sail cloths, and paper as well as clothing. 

Modern Hemp Fibre

Industrial hemp fibre should not be confused with cannabis. It possesses none of the active chemicals that cause psychoactive reactions. Modern hemp production is very similar to flax production, but it can also be more labour intensive, which is why it has largely been replaced in recent centuries since the rise of cotton. 

Modern Hemp fabrics are eco friendly and usually pesticide free. They grow actively without the help of pesticides and other chemicals. 

Hemp fibres are produced in much the same way as linen fibres, however to ensure the resulting fibre is soft, lignin (what makes woody plants woody) needs to be removed. In industry, this is called 'degumming'. Although the retting has started the process of degumming the fibre, to make the hemp as soft as possible, you can then perform another step where you boil the fibre in water, or in an alkaline solution, to break down the remaining woody and waxy parts of the plant.

Without this step, even after retting the raw fibres will still be hard and scratchy. So whether you do this further degumming depends on exactly what you want from the fibre. 

Using Hemp as a Yarn or Fibre

There are very few 100% hemp yarns available for crafting, most seem to be on cones for weaving, which probably means that my gut instinct on this is right, and in the same way as linen, you're better off weaving it than working it directly by hand for knitting and crochet. 

It has no stretch, the same as linen and cotton, but is still very good in hot temperatures at wicking heat and moisture away. 

Nettle

Nettle Fibre is produced from the stems of the common stinging nettle plant. It's properties are similar to linen and hemp with a silky look. 

Nettles are a lot more useful than we often give them credit for - they are edible, are a main food source for caterpillars, and make some fabulous fabric! 

History

When doing my research for this post, I found an interesting fact that the name nettle is derived from the the Proto-Indo-European word ending 'ned' which means to tie, bind or twist. This is a direct result of the fact that nettles have been used for fibre production, with the fibres being twisted together to create strands which are then woven into cloth.  

Preparation

Nettle fibres are prepared in the same way as linen fibres. They are first retted, then broken and scutched, before being hackled and eventually spun. There is a real resurgence of nettle processing in the fibre world, with several nettles for textiles communities. It is a process which can be done in a small scale at home, without the need for space to grow a significant number of crops. Very few people will mind you asking to clear their nettles from their garden for them! 

Nettles for fibre crafts

Nettle fibre is a little softer and easier to work with in my experience than linen and hemp. It works well blended with other fibres to give strength and lustre. On its own as a fibre to spin, it feels quite silky and not as coarse as some of the others we've covered.  

Ramie

Ramie is a close relative of the stinging nettle and is sometimes used interchangeably with nettle fibre as a name. The main difference is that Ramie fibre can be harder and more brittle than stinging nettle fibre, and needs to go through the same degumming process as hemp to make it fully useable. Ramie fabric has been around for about the same length of time as cotton fabric.

So on to next week!

Week 3 is where the really interesting bits are! 

We covered protein fibres in week one, we've now done cellulose fibres for week 2... so what on earth are the fibres in week 3 made from?! You'll have to tune in to find out!

Have a good week!